Ball-bearing.



F. STARIN.

BALL BEARING.

APPLICATION FILED JANJS, 1914.

1 1 1 5 1 24;, Patented Oct. 27, 1914.

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F1 g 2 24 f F. STARIN.

BALL BEARING.

APPLICATION FILED JANJB, 1914.

1 1 1 5', 1 24, Patented Oct. 27, 1914.

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BALL-BEARING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Got. 27, rate.

ma a the January 16, 1am. Serial No. 812,469.

The present invention relates to ball bear ifngs, and more'particularlyto a cage there- One of the objects of the invention is to provide acage containing a plurality of ball retaining devices which are, carriedby a common support'and constructed in such a manner that they can beattached to-such;

support, to constitute with the balls retained and separated thereby anassembled-unit.

- Another object of the invention is to pro vide a :device of this typewhich is simple in construction, efii cient in operation, and which can,be applied both tojournal bearings and step bearings.

A further object of the invention is to produce a cage, the individual'ret-aining*members of which are constructed and disposed in such amanner that they are adapted to hold in proper position relative to eachother a lurality of rows or sets of balls.

ith these and other objects in view,

which will more fully appear as the nature of the invention is betterunderstood, the} same consists in the combination, arrangement andconstruction of parts hereinafter fully described, pointed out in theappended claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it beingunderstood that many changes may be made in the size and propor: tion ofthe several parts and details of construction within the scope of theappended claims without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any ofthe advantages of the invention.

A few of the many possible embodiments of the invention are illustratedin the accompanying drawings, in which 2 Figure 1 is a central verticalsection taken through a ball bearing constructed in accordance with thepresent invention; Fig. 2 is a section taken on line 22 of Fig. 1',partly in elevation; Fig. 3 is a front elevation of one of the retainingelements of the cage; Fig. 1 is a side elevation thereof; Fig. 5 is asection taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a vertical section takenthrough a portion of a modified construction; Fig. 7 is a plan view,part1 in elevation, of a step bearing constructe in accordance withthepresent invention;.Fig, 8 is as'ection taken on line 88 of Fig. 7and'Fig. 9 is'a lan view of one of the retaining elements o the bearingshown in Figs. 7 and'8I Referrin now more particularly to Figs. 1 to 5,inc usive; the numeral lOindicates the inner bearing ring, having a bore11, by

proved manner" to an aitlecr shaft. This ring is provided with tworaceways 12 and 13, one ,disposedbelo'wthe' other and in alinement withthe raceways 14 and 15,- respectively, in an outer bearing "ring 16. Twoseries of balls 17 and1'8 are disposed intermediate the'bearing rings,and run in the two sets of registering raceways. The halls are spacedapart by separators, denoted by the numeral '19. Each of theseseparators is'made of comparatively soft material, fo'r instance brass,and comprises a plate, preferably formed by stamping, consisting of twosubstantially parallel wings 20, which are connected by a ring-likeportion 21. The inner face of the ring-likeport-ion is concave,accommodating and'e'ncircling one of the balls 18. The outer faces ofthe wings 20? are also concave, the juxtaposed wings of two adjoiningretainers contacting with and holding in place one of the balls 17. Eachwing of a retainer is provided with an upwardly extending-lug 22., thering-shaped portion 21 having a downwardly projecting lug, indicated at23. The retainers are attached to supporting rings 24 and 25 by theintermediary of these lugs. The supporting rings are disposed withingrooves'26 and 27 in the outer and inner bearingrings, respectively,transversely of and outside the raceways. The retainers are attached tothe supporting rings by forming in the latter slots 28 and 29,respectively, the lugs 22 being seated in the slots 28, and the lugs 23in the slots 29, both sets of lugsbeing bent upon the outer faces of thesupporting rings.

To permit of an assembling of the bearing, the bearing rings areprovided with recesses 30, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of thedrawings, the balls being inserted through the said recesses into therespective raceways. An oil groove 31 is provided in the outer bearingring for a well known purpose.

It will be observed that, since the sup porting rings 24 and 25completely inclose which said ring may be secured inany apthe annularspace between the bearing rings, any possibility of dust or foreignmatter entering said. annular space is effectively prevented. Theretainers or separators bemg fixedly attached to said supportlng rings,will obviously hold the balls in fixed relation to each other. Inasmuchas the retainers are interconnected, the breakage of a ball does noteffect materially the operation of the bearing for the reason that allother balls are kept in their proper positions.

A modification of the invention is shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings whichdiffers from the one above described in that the retainers are attachedto one supporting ring only, said rin being denoted by the numeral 32.In this case obviously the retainers lack the lugs 23. Otherwise theoperation and construction of the device are in all. respects identicalwith those of the de-" vice described above.

X further modification of the device is shown in Figs. 7 to 9,inclusive. This form shows the invention applied to step bearings. Thebearing comprises an upper ring 33 and a lower ring 34, each ring beingprovided with two parallel raceways 35, the raceways of the upper ringregistering with those of the lower ring. The cage comprises asupporting ring 36, the longitudinal axis of which coincides with thelongitudinal axes of the bearing rings, and sup orts the spacing andretaining elements 3 which are similar in construction to thosedescribed in connection with Fig. 6 of the drawings, and are attached tothe ring in the same manner, the only difference being that the wings22' of the individual retaining elements are disposed radially relativeto the bearing rings; This difference, however, is not structural; it isonly incidental to the relative location of the bearing rings.

What I claim is 1. In a ball bearing, the combination with an innerandan outer bearing ring, each being provided with two raceways, therebyforming two independent races for balls,

of a plurality of balls running in each race- Way, a supporting ring,and retainers attached to said supporting ring, each retainer comprisinga plate having a ring-shaped portion provided with a concave inner facesaid raceways, and retainers attached to said supporting rings, eachretainer comprising a plate having. a ring-shaped portion provided witha concave inner face encircling a ball in one of said raceways andfurthermore wings having outer concave faces, the juxtaposed wings oftwo adjacent retainers embracing a ball in the other one of saidraceways.

In a ball bearing, the combination with an inner and an-outer bearingring, each being provided with two raceways, thereby forming twoindependent races for balls, of a plurality of balls running in eachraceway, supporting rings disposed outside of said raceways and coveringcompletely the annular space between said bearing rings,

and retainers attached to said supporting;

rings, each retainer comprising a plate having a ring-shaped portionprovided with a concave inner face encircling a ball in one of saidraceways and furthermore wings having outer concave faces, thejuxtaposed wings of two adjacent retainers embracing a ball in the otherone of said raceways.

4:. A cage for ball bearings comprising a rin -shaped supporting member,and retaining members attached thereto, each retaining member comprisinga plate having a ring-shaped portion provided with a concave inner faceencircling a ball and furthermore Wings having outer concave faces, thejuxtaposed wings of two adjacent retain'ers embracing a ball.

Signed at Springfield, in the county of Hampden and State ofMassachusetts, this fourteenth day of January, A. D. 1914:.

FRANK STARIN.

Witnesses:

WALTER GEHREOKE, THos. F. MCGLYNN

